Is I IS or is I ain't?
 

I have a Canon 100-400 L IS lens. The instructions say to turn the Image Stabilisation off if the camera is on a tripod. Can anyone tell me if leaving the IS on when on a tripod will actually damage the lens? Also what about if you are hand holding with a very stable footing or say resting on a wall, does the IS have to be turned off then?

TIA

Robin

Hi Robin,
If you leave the IS on when on a tripod it will think that any movent is camera shake awkward when taking a in-flight shot of a bird whem using a tripod. Also, It saves the battery, as IS can use a lot of power if used all the time.

ant

I suspect it is more to do with the way the servos work. Basically a servo needs to see an error so that it can make a correction. Some servos designs are based on the fact it needs to induce a small error itself by moving a part to findout what is happening. If you like to find which way is up, right, left or down. I have no idea how the Canon IS servo works other than they seam to have a gyro motor. My experience is of the servos used to track the laser beam on CDROM and DVD. In these you have a focus and tracking servo to maintain to laser head in the correct position.

So from what I have heard from users of this lens if you have IS on using a tripod the the image is not sharp.

It varies from lens to lens - Some of the newer Canon offerings of image stabilized lenses don't require you to turn off the IS when using a tripod. You need to read the instructions for each IS lens you own.

When I have my 100-400 on a tripod with the IS on, you can see the image slowly move to one side in the viewfinder ... rather disconcerting. If you are holding or supporting the camera/lens in such a manner that if you move the camera moves, then use the IS. If it is sitting on its own, be it on a tripod or a brick wall, turn off the IS (unless the instructions for your lens say otherwise!).

Not turning off the IS does not damage the lens in any way ... it just uses up your battery and may actually make your photos worse.

Hi Robin

I looked into this recently when comparing Sigma and Canon Prime lenses...whilst not gospel from the manfacturers, this is what I understand:

The latest Canon lenses have 3rd generation IS, which means that it detects if placed on a tripod (or similar) and 'switches off' to avoid feedback loops - i.e. the IS motor vibrations triggering the IS sensor! I think that the 500, 600 and mk III 75-300 lenses have this version of the IS, but not sure on the 100-400...

Best guess is that the IS will only ruin your shots and battery life if left on rather than break anything. However, I understand that the manuals for lenses with 3rd generation IS did say to switch off the IS on a tripod, although this may have been changed now.

Cheers Mark.

You seem to be contradicting yourself!

For the final answer - from the proverbial horse's mouth:

http://www.cps.canon-europe.com/kb/d...jsp?faqId=1130

Thanks everyone for your info, you told me what I needed to know i.e that leaving the IS in won't damage the lens. Being new to bird photography I am finding that there are so many things to remember and sometimes I forget to turn the IS off. This may also answer why some of my pictures are not as sharp as I had expected.

One thing I noticed reading the article on Canons web-site, it mentions about the monopod but the 100-400 isn't in that bracket of lenses. Should it be turned off on a monopod. I personally would have thought to put it in mode 2 as there would be no up and down movement but there could be still left to right.

I should have added an 'incorrectly' in there somewhere!